Like Pillars Four
by Realmer06
Summary: A peculiar sense came over the four, as if a solemn pact had just been sworn, as if some magic, waiting for this purpose, had settled on the very top of Hogwart Hill. The four knew it then. They would build this school. And it would become great.
1. Time to Begin

Author's Note - Yes, before you ask, this will tie in with the Seeker Universe. Eventually. This is a longer fic, and as such, it might not be fully posted for some time, and for that I apologize. I shall try to finish as much as I can before the semester gets too far under way, but I don't know how far I shall get. I urge you to be patient. Thanks ever so!

DISCLAIMER: I own perhaps more of the Founders than the normal run characters, but only in the sense that I have come up with details to make them my own. I DO NOT, however, own them. They still belong to JK Rowling, genius that she is.

And now, enjoy some time with the Founders!

* * *

Like Pillars Four

Chapter One - Time to Begin

"Abbot Stefen, Abbot Stefen!" The man called Stefen turned his mare back the way he had just come at the sound of his name. There was only one child in the entire homestead at the base of Hogwart Hill that called him Abbot.

"Helga, does your mother know you're running after horses?"

The tiny blonde child coming toward him did not answer, but she did slow down. Helga Hufflepuff and her mother Anna had lived on the homestead since Helga was a baby. Helga was Stefen's special child. She was around eleven, but looked only seven or eight. This was due to her delicate condition. Helga had what the homestead's Healer, Bernard, called weak blood.

"Abbot Stefen, where are you going?" The homestead he ran could not truly be called a monastery or abbey, because the men who dressed like monks, living and studying here, were not monks and did not conform to the Rules of St. Benedict. Therefore, Stefen could not truly be called an Abbot, but he was the person in charge of the homestead.

He and his friends ran the small village for the poor and homeless. Anyone could stay there for as long as they liked without fear of disgrace. Hogwart Village was a sanctuary for any who needed it, such as unmarried mother Anna Hufflepuff. Some, like Anna, had enjoyed the company of the homestead so much that they had never left.

"I am going to the harbor."

"Why?" Helga was forever asking questions.

"Well–"

"Helga, where are you?" A blonde woman who could only be Helga's mother came hurrying out of the nearest door. Spotting them, she came hurrying up.

"I was only saying farewell to Abbot Stefen, Mama."

"You are breathing hard, child. You know you're not to run."

"I know, Mama. But I was afraid—"

"Don't argue, Helga," Anna scolded, and Helga looked so downhearted that Stefen had to cheer her up.

"Now, Helga. I wasn't going to tell you this, but I am picking up something special for you at the harbor."

Her eyes brightened immediately. "Oo, what?" she cried happily.

"When I return, you shall see. It is a rather important surprise."

"Thank you, Abbot Stefen!"

"Now, go inside, dear," Anna said, "and rest."

"Study that Latin I set you," Abbot Stefen said. She walked carefully into the room she shared with her mother.

"What am I going to do with her, Stefen!" Anna said desperately. "It's for her own good, but Helga doesn't see it that way."

"She is eleven; one could hardly expect her to. Never you mind, Anna. I am bringing back from the harbor today three children her age."

"Are they . . . like she is? Like you are?"

"Yes. I am going to train them properly." Anna smiled with relief.

"Mayhap it's precisely what she needs," she said.

"Mayhap. Farewell."

"Godspeed!"

* * *

Riding along through the meadow, Stefen let himself think. He had spotted Helga's potential years ago. She was such a small thing and upset that her blood would not let her play with the occasional child in the village, nor let her run free through the meadows on her own. So, Stefen had taken her under his wing and taught her things normal girls would never have learned. He taught her how to read and write, both English and Latin. He taught her history and geography and philosophy. The more time he spent with her, the more he was certain of her heritage. The more certain of her heritage he became, the more he taught her what she would some day need to know – numerology and astronomy and alchemy.

He and his fellows were not monks, nor were they devoted solely to the service of God, like monks. They were wizards. Practicing secretly, for wizards were rare and feared. Magic was feared.

His suspicion was that Helga's father had been a wizard. Anna had no magical blood in her, but when Stefen had become aware of Helga's magical abilities, he had told Anna. Anna had never revealed the name of Helga's father, but Stefen had a feeling she knew it. After all, she didn't seem extraordinarily surprised when Stefen had told her of the band of wizards, and the fact that Helga herself would one day become one.

The three children coming today were the children of magical families. Stefen had been in contact with them, and had asked them if they were willing to send their children to Hogwart Village for instruction, so Helga might have some students to learn with, some children her own age. They had agreed.

So Rowena Ravenclaw, Godric Gryffindor, and Salazar Slytherin were coming here across the lake this afternoon. And he was going to bring them home now.

* * *

"Helga, please stop hanging out of the window," Anna Hufflepuff said wearily, not looking up from her mending. "He'll be back when he's back; watching the road won't get him here any faster."

Reluctantly, Helga returned to the table in the corner and tried to concentrate on the Latin translation in front of her. But it was no use. The minute she heard hoof beats on the road outside, she was out the door. "Helga!" Anna called, before sighing and following her daughter.

Stefen was leading a caravan of sorts. Directly behind him were three children, about Helga's own age, two boys and a girl. Behind them were wagons full of, Helga supposed, their belongings

Stefen stopped the horses. For a few moments there was silence. Helga beheld the three children, and they beheld her. Then Stefen spoke. "Helga. This is Rowena Ravenclaw, Godric Gryffindor, and Salazar Slytherin," he said, indicating each in turn. "Children, this is Helga Hufflepuff. She will be studying with you."

The boy with red hair called Gryffindor laughed, not unkindly. "She's just a little girl," he said.

"Actually," Helga spoke up, then blushed at her forwardness. "I - I'm eleven."

"As are the rest of you," Stefen said. "And you will be learning together, so I'd appreciate it if you would learn to work together. Rowena, Godric, Salazar, Bernard will see you settled. Helga, I'd like to speak to you in my study."

* * *

Helga's head was spinning with what Stefen had just told her. She was a little short of breath, which sometimes happened when she got excited. She rubbed her chest unconsciously.

"Magic?" she asked. "Me?"

"Yes, Helga."

"And them too, right? And you?"

"Yes, Helga," Stefen replied, watching the child closely. He wasn't sure how she would take this news. But he saw her trying to puzzle this news out, and he knew she was close to getting the right answer already.

"But . . . the priests tell us that magic is evil and wrong. How can you be a priest and still –" Then she knew. He watched her suddenly understand. "No – no, I get it, I . . . all of you?" she asked faintly, looking at him.

"Yes, Helga," he whispered. She sat, trying to absorb it all, and then she could hear her heart pounding in her ears, which sometimes happened when she got particularly surprised or frightened. Vaguely, she heard Stefen mutter a few words, and, as suddenly as it had started, her breathing eased and her heart quieted. She stared at him.

"Was that . . . ?"

He smiled kindly. "Yes, Helga." She sat for a minute longer, and then she looked straight at him, a fire in her eyes.

"I want to learn."

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Helga was walking to a small cottage on the edge of the establishment, just at the base of the hill. This was the cottage where the four students would be staying together. Helga had her small writing desk under her arm – absolutely the heaviest thing she was allowed to carry – while Bernard and another of the brothers carried her other small belongings for the move.

The door to the cottage was standing open, and Helga could hear the loud voices of the two boys coming from the room that was at the top of the left landing. She set her writing desk on the table in the center of the room, watching the top of that set of stairs with interest.

"We will take your things to your room, yes, Little Bird?" Helga nodded in Bernard's direction, only vaguely registering that he had called her the name she didn't like – not because it annoyed her, but because she didn't feel as though it fit her. She began to climb the other set of stairs, to the boys' room.

She stood in the doorway of their room for a long time before they noticed her. Or, until one of them noticed her, for it was the quieter boy, Salazar, who turned and saw her standing passively outside their room.

"Hello," he said. She gave him a shy smile and nodded. She saw a snake when she looked at him, a small little garter snake that tended to sit quietly and blend in with his surroundings, someone who could often go unnoticed.

When the other boy looked at her, she saw quite an opposite. Godric was a lion, lazy in his pride, but ready at any moment to stand and defend to the death the things and people he loved.

To think that until this morning, she hadn't known that the way she saw animals when she first looked at people was magic! Abbot Stefen had told her that this was one way her magic showed itself, and it had been one of the first clues he'd had of her powers.

"It's the quiet mouse!" said Godric cheerfully when he saw her. She wrinkled her nose thoughtfully.

"You see a mouse when you look at me?" she asked him. She'd never been able to see her own animal. She didn't know if she wanted to be a mouse or not.

Godric laughed. "You're kind of like a mouse, that's all," he said. She regarded him thoughtfully.

"No," she finally said with a sigh. "A mouse isn't right either, any more than a bird is." When the boys still looked puzzled, she explained. "It's part of my magic, Abbot Stefen says. I see animals when I look at people; I see their . . . familiars, I guess you could call it. But I can't see mine."

This so interested the boys that they invited her into their room to tell them more about it. It surprised Helga that she had made friends with them so easily. She had thought it would be harder, seeing them this morning, especially after what Godric had said. But she soon learned that Godric was just so easygoing that he said anything that came into his mind; he very rarely meant to insult. He was always laughing – even when he tried to be serious, the laughter shone in his eyes. Godric could make her laugh. He seemed like a good person for fun, with his mane of red hair.

Salazar, on the other hand, was different. He was quieter, and extremely thoughtful. He could communicate his thoughts with only a glance and the hint of a smile. Helga recognized that he was very much like her in that respect; she felt that in him she had found a kindred spirit.

One of those moments when Salazar just caught her eye and smiled, they were sharing a silent laugh at one of Godric's antics. He was pretending to be the lion Helga had told him his animal form was. Then he stopped and just looked at her.

"You know," he said, "for a girl, you're pretty smart."

"And what," came a new voice from behind them, "is that supposed to mean, Godric Gryffindor?" Standing behind them was the fourth member of their class, Rowena Ravenclaw. Godric grinned. "Well, I'm only –"

"Only saying that you don't think girls can be as smart as boys?" The petite brunette looked ready to do battle, but underneath it ran a current of teasing. She was serious about the topic, but she was also playing with him.

"You're a raven," said Helga.

"Ravenclaw," she corrected. "Rowena Ravenclaw." Helga shook her head.

"Yes, but you're also a raven. Your familiar," she clarified when the girl still looked confused.

"Helga sees familiars. She says Godric's a lion and I'm a . . . kind of snake?" Salazar was giving Rowena information, but he was also asking Helga a question.

"A garter snake," she told him.

"Like the little green ones in gardens?" Rowena asked, coming into the room. Helga nodded.

"It probably won't stay that as Salazar gets older, though."

Salazar looked puzzled. "Your familiars change?"

"No . . ." Helga hedged, trying to find a way to explain. "It just becomes more like itself as you grow. Oh, I know that doesn't make any sense, but it's a hard thing explain."

"So, give an example," Rowena prompted. Helga thought about it.

"There was a boy who stayed in Hogwart Village for a while. He came here when he was ten. He was here for a few years. As a boy, he was cat, like you'd have for a pet. When he left, he was a wildcat. It's the same idea, just more intense because he became more of himself than he had been before. Does that make sense?"

"Yes," the girl replied promptly. "I understand now. It fits you, Salazar."

"For more than one reason," Godric said. When Helga looked confused, he nudged Salazar. "Go on. Show her!" Salazar sighed good-naturedly, then emitted a series of different pitched hisses.

"What is that?" Helga asked, confused.

"It's a language," Salazar explained. "It's called Parseltongue. I can talk to snakes."

Her eyes widened in delight. "Really?"

He laughed. "Yes, really."

"He plays it like it's not a big deal," Rowena said. "But the ability to speak to snakes is very rare. And even the few wizards who can, well, they're not as fluent as Salazar is."

"That's Rowena for you," Salazar said, smiling. "No matter what topic is being discussed, she always manages to find the rare and unusual in it." Rowena sighed.

"How many times do I have to ask you to call me Ro, Sal?"

"As many as I have to ask you to call me Salazar," he replied wryly, and she smiled. Helga felt a twinge of regret that she hadn't known these three all her life.

"So, admit it, Godric," Rowena said, sitting. "Before you came here, you thought I was the only intelligent female on earth apart from your mother, and now you've been surprised that Helga could tell you something you didn't already know."

"Okay," Godric said, shrugging. "I did. But I know better now."

"Are you all from wizarding families?" Helga asked quietly. The other three nodded. "Is it how you know each other already?" Rowena smiled.

"No," she said. "Well, kind of. I mean, I've _met_ Godric and Salazar a few times, but never enough to _really_ get to know them." Godric and Salazar agreed.

"It seems like you've been friends forever," Helga said.

"Well, Salazar and I knew each other more than that," Godric said. "Our families' estates are fairly close together."

"But you've all been raised magically?" she asked, trying to work up to what she didn't really want to tell them, but knew she had to. They all nodded.

"Weren't you?" Godric asked. Hesitantly, she shook her head.

"Mother isn't magical at all. Abbot Stefen thinks it was my father, but I don't know who he is. I don't even know if Mother does. I only found out this was a community of wizards this morning." She said all this very softly, because she didn't want them to think less of her for having magic and not knowing it.

"You were still raised with it," Salazar said. Helga looked up at him, shaking her head. "Yes, you were. Stefen told us you knew basic Latin and alchemy and astronomy and numerology."

She nodded. "He's been teaching me those for ages."

"Well then, you know as much as we do. You just haven't seen magic practiced. That's not quite as important."

"Even if I don't come from a magical family?" she asked timidly. The three others exchanged glances and shrugs.

"You're magic, so . . . yes. Even then," Godric said, but Helga looked to Salazar for confirmation. He smiled at her, and she smiled back in reply, feeling relieved that she had been accepted.

"Children," came Stefen's voice from below. "It's time to begin."

* * *

Thanks for reading! Please, let me know what you think! 


	2. Discoveries

Author's Note: Enjoy part two! That's really all I have to say.

DISCLAIMER: Oh, and, they're not mine.

* * *

Like Pillars Four

Chapter Two - Discoveries

Stefen kept the children very busy, teaching them first to recognize where their magic was within them, then teaching them the practical basics of practicing magic, and finally, teaching them to make their own wands.

"In another part of the country," he told them, "lives a family who has begun to find the many secrets to crafting wands. But with the current state of things, Master Ollivander and I decided it would not be wise to meet at this time, as his entire family is enclosed in a circle of suspicion. And so, you will learn to craft wands for yourself."

It was a fascinating process. First, they were sent into the Forest surrounding Hogwart Village. Stefen told them to just walk, and wait. They were to wait for a tree that called to them, and cut a branch from that tree in a way that would cause no harm to the tree. He had showed them how. It involved making marks over time, until the tree relinquished its hold on that branch. Helga noticed that the willow tree that she was taking her wand wood from spoke to another of their group as well, for she could see another set of wand marks on a branch not far from hers. But she had never seen another of the four there.

One day when they were sent out to work on their wand wood, Stefen held her behind to ask how she was adjusting. Because of this, she went to the willow later than usual.

She was surprised to find someone already there, until she realized that it must be whoever was using the same wood. She tiptoed around the trunk of the tree, not wanting to disturb whoever was there. But when she saw Salazar's back, she let out a tiny, "oh!"

He froze, and then slowly turned. She stood, looking sheepish, blushing.

"Hello, Helga," he said, in his soft manner. It still amazed her that such a quiet boy could be such good friends with the loud, enthusiastic Godric. Trying to hide her embarrassment at intruding, she hurried over to where she was cutting her wand. She took out her knife and began to work away in the tiny, unhurried cuts the work called for, but she was trembling so that missed and grazed her finger instead.

"Careful!" Salazar said, suddenly beside her, steadying her, and covering her hand with both his own. Before she could stammer out her thanks, the small branch she had worked so carefully on dropped from the tree into their joined hands. She looked up at him and smiled. "Are you all right?" he asked with concern. She nodded. The scratch was barely bleeding.

"Yes, and I'm sorry for intruding –"

"This was your willow before it was mine," he interrupted. "I think that's part of why it spoke to me. You're a very special person, Helga." She blushed fiercely. "Would you . . . be my friend? I'd like it very much." He spoke softly.

"I already am," she whispered, and was rewarded with a rare grin.

"Good. Let's go take your swatch to Stefen."

"What about yours?" she asked as he started to move away.

"Mine's not ready yet," he said over his shoulder. "I told you; this was your willow before it was mine."

* * *

After they had finished crafting their wands – Helga's eight inches of willow and phoenix feather, Rowena's nine and three quarters inches of rosewood and ground unicorn horn, Godric's eleven and a half inches of cherry and hippogriff feather, and Salazar's thirteen inches of willow and dragon scale – they progressed rapidly in their studies. As Stefen was delighted to discover, all four were extraordinarily talented, each with different areas in which they outshone even each other. Godric's defensive magic was magnificent to see, and his transfiguration was effortless. Rowena was an expert when it came to numerology and potions. Salazar had a gift for magical animals and plants; he could coax anything to grow. And Helga showed an affinity for charmwork and divination. The divination had surprised both her and the other three, but not Stefen. He's had a feeling for a long while that her ability to see people's familiars would develop into accurate Seeing with training.

All of the training that the four of them received was enough to keep them busy from morning until night. The little free time they had, they walked, but not far or fast, and so Helga was permitted to go.

This was how almost four years were allowed to pass without the other three learning of her condition.

Helga herself didn't like to speak of it. She viewed it as a weakness she thought magic should be able to fix. But magic could only aid in relief – the Healing did not yet exist to strengthen her blood for good. And so, she had to be extremely careful and deliberate with everything she did, to remain calm and composed, to not overexert. The other three simply accepted this as part of who Helga was and never questioned it. Until one day when the four were fifteen.

It was a glorious summer day, and so, Stefen gave them a rare day to themselves. But Godric soon grew restless of walking through the fields and Forest they had wandered for three years. And it was he who proposed exploring the whole of Hogwart Hill.

Ro and Salazar soon agreed. Helga blanched. She listened to them talk excitedly as they discussed what wonders might be seen from the top, growing paler and more panicked with every word they spoke, because she knew that sooner or later they would turn to her.

"Let's go!" Godric said enthusiastically. "Come on, Helga, you must know that hill like –"

"No!" she said sharply. The three turned to her, puzzled. "I can't," she said, quieter.

"Why not?" Rowena asked.

"I just can't!" she said in distress.

"Helga –" Salazar started, holding out his hand, but she backed away from him.

"No, I told you! I just can't!" And she turned and began to run away from them, though she knew she'd regret it.

She lasted until she was into the Forest, under her willow. Then, she all but collapsed, sobbing, hardly able to breathe, clutching her chest. She groped for her wand, only to remember that she had left it behind, in the cottage.

Her chest hurt so badly, worse than it ever had, even when she had chanced a small run before. She was starting to lose touch with her surroundings; she couldn't quite remember where she was or what she was doing there. She just wanted it to stop hurting.

She was vaguely aware of someone shouting her name, and she thought she was being lifted into a new position, being held by someone.

Then, the pain eased, and she collapsed, limp, into the arms of whoever was holding her. She lay there, with her eyes closed, regretting the rashness of what she had done. She had put herself into more danger than she would have if she had climbed Hogwart Hill. She registered that someone was saying something, and the voice sounded frightened. She thought maybe she should try to concentrate on what the person was saying; it might be important.

" . . . please, Helga! Open your eyes! Please!" She struggled to obey. She was so tired. But she forced her eyes open. Salazar was holding her. It was Salazar who had followed her and perform the charm that had probably saved her life, or at least kept her from danger.

"Salazar?" she whispered.

"You scared me, Helga," he whispered back.

"I'm . . . s-sorry," she said, embarrassed as she started shaking uncontrollably. How could she have been so foolish? She looked away trying to hide the tears streaking down her cheek. But he wouldn't let her. He held her even closer, which made her cry all over again.

"Shh," he comforted, stroking her hair. "What happened?" he asked when she was calmer.

"I ran. I'm not supposed to. I can't. That's why I can't climb the hill. I can't run or climb or anything like that."

"Why?" She looked at him, with eyes full of tears.

"Stefen says it's my blood. He says it's too weak for anything like that."

"You mean, you could die?" He looked horrified at the prospect.

"I almost have," she whispered. "Twice." At the look in his eyes, she went on. "The first time was when they first found out. I was young, only five or so."

"And the second?" he asked. She looked away, not wanting to admit it had been only a few moments ago. But he understood.

"Oh, Helga," he said, shocked, sitting back on his heels. Which made Helga cry all over again, sobbing out apologies. He gathered her to him and held her as tightly as he ever had, as if he couldn't bear to lose her now that he knew he had come so close.

He didn't ask a lot of complicated questions, for which Helga was extremely grateful. She was glad he was content to let her rest against him without feeling as it she needed to give something back right now. She knew the time would come when she would have to answer all his questions, but right now, she was so tired. And he was willing to let the questions go for now.

* * *

When Helga had fallen asleep, Salazar very carefully gathered her up and stood. She barely weighed a thing. His mind spinning with questions and worries that he was trying very hard to push to the back of things for the moment, he carried her out of the Forest, in time to see Godric and Rowena approach, looking confused. That changed when they saw him.

"Helga!" Rowena cried, and started running toward them, Godric at her heels.

"Salazar, what happened?" he asked.

"Shh," he said, trying not to wake her.

"Is she all right?" Rowena asked, urgently, looking down at Helga. Salazar hesitated.

"She will be," he finally said, and willed it to be the truth. "Godric, Rowena, can you get Stefen and Bernard right away?" Without question, they left at a run.

Salazar trusted Helga, and he knew that, when the time was right, she would tell him what he needed to know. But at this moment, what mattered most was that Stefen and Bernard, her guardian and healer, be told what had happened in such a way that got Helga in the least trouble possible. And so, when he saw Stefen and Bernard running toward him, he had formulated what he was going to say.

Stefen accepted his story, which was the truth, just not all of it. Salazar said that Helga had gotten spooked and had panicked, running into the Forest. Salazar had gone after her, seen the attack, and helped stop it.

"How?" Stefen asked, bewildered, as Bernard took her from Salazar's arms and into the Healing Home. "How did you stop that strong an attack?" Salazar stared after her for a moment, silent.

"I don't know," he finally admitted. "I just did what came into my head, and didn't question it." Stefen fixed the boy with a shrewd eye.

"I think I shall have to add healing to your courses. You seem to have a gift." Salazar blushed. "Do Godric and Rowena . . . ?" he asked. He had sent the two off to fetch Anna.

Salazar shook his had. "Not yet."

"How much did she tell you?"

"Not much. Enough." He was flustered; Stefen could see that easily enough. "Stefen," he said, jerking his attention back to the aging wizard. "Could she really have –"

"Yes," he said seriously. Salazar swallowed visibly. "Salazar, how long have you–"

"Where is she, Stefen?" Anna Hufflepuff interrupted the conversation. Stefen nodded toward Bernard's domain. With a last look at Salazar, he followed Helga's mother into the building and closed the door behind them.

Salazar sat down abruptly on the path where he was, refusing to think about what Stefen had been about to ask him. His thoughts were interrupted by Godric and Rowena, both pale, sitting down beside him.

"Salazar . . ." Godric said, in bewilderment. "What happened?" It sounded as if it were all he could think to ask. Salazar didn't really know how to answer, so he just said, "I'm not sure."

"Salazar, if you knew something, you'd tell us, right?" Rowena asked quietly, placing a hand on his arm. He looked at her hand for a moment.

"I would tell you if I could," he finally said.

"What's wrong with her?" Rowena whispered, pleading. He shook his head.

"I can't," he whispered back. "I only know a very little bit of it, really, and it isn't my place to tell you. I can't, please understand."

Rowena looked away from him, but nodded.

"Is she going to be all right?" Godric asked. "Can you at least tell us that?"

He searched for the right thing to say. "It could have been bad, Stefen says. Really bad. But we got her to them in time. So she has to be all right. She _has_ to be!" The last part was more for his own conscious than Godric's or Rowena's. They lapsed into silence, sitting together, each imagining the worst. A short while later, the door to the cottage opened. The three stood as one, each asking silent questions of Stefen.

"She will recover," he said. "Godric, Rowena, I need you both to come with me. Salazar, you may go in."

"She wants to talk to me?" he asked. Stefen gave a hint of a smile.

"No, no, she doesn't really want to talk to anyone. She wants to crawl under a rock and hide for a long while. She's embarrassed. But she has agreed to talk to you, and that's something. Go on in."

Salazar slipped inside the darkened cottage. Bernard was talking to Anna in soft, hushed tones. They looked up when he came in. "She's in through there," Bernard said, nodding to another doorway. As he moved toward it, past them, Anna reached out and grasped his arm.

"Stefen tells me you were there. He said . . . you saved her?" Salazar held her searching gaze, then nodded. Tears came into her eyes. "Thank you," she whispered, and he nodded again, then slipped into the room where Helga lay.

She was looking away from him, at the wall. As he came to sit in the chair pulled beside the bed, the only sign that she knew he was there was the faint blush that tinged her face.

The silence between them was deafening. Then —

"You're angry with me," she whispered.

"No," he whispered back. "Why did you run?"

"I panicked. I wasn't thinking. The hill is what – that's how they found out. I've grown up wanting to know what's up there. When I was five, I escaped from Mother and started running, started to climb the hill. I didn't tell anyone where I was going. I didn't make it very far before I collapsed." She shivered. "It took them forever to find me, and it was almost too late when they did. It's because of what happened on the hill that I was never allowed to do the things I wanted to." Now she turned her head to look at him. "I want to see the top so badly," she said fiercely. "It should have been my place, all these years, but I'm too –" She broke off, angry, and looked away again. "I'm so pathetic. I'm not even strong enough to climb a hill," she said bitterly.

Salazar didn't really know how to respond. But after a moment's silence, she continued. "Early on, Stefen started distracting me with puzzles. Word puzzles, number games, and as I got older, it turned into learning Latin and astronomy. I can puzzle out any problem now. Anything that requires brain power and determination, I can do. The only challenge I can't overcome is the limitation of my own body. I want so much to see the world from the top of that hill. I want to look down on the world and feel free. But I can't."

He reached out, hesitantly, and covered her hand with his own. She turned her head to look at his hand on hers, then slowly raised her eyes to his. They were full of unshed tears and even as she held his gaze, one slipped down her face.

Tired of watching her in pain and not being able to help, he moved up to sit on the edge of her bed, putting an arm around her shoulders, pulling her against him. She let him hold her.

"Do Godric and Ro know?" she asked, her voice muffled because she still had her face against his chest.

"Stefen's telling them now," he told her.

"Well, go ahead and ask," she mumbled. "I know you want to."

"What?" he asked.

She raised her head. "Why I didn't you all before. Why I kept it a secret." He shook his head.

"I don't need to ask."

"What?"

He looked down at her and smiled. "I wouldn't have told anyone, either," he said softly.

* * *

"There has to be a way to get her to the top of that hill," Salazar said passionately the next day. Godric and Rowena were sitting in the grass at the base of the hill. Salazar was pacing in an agitated manner. He had told them most of his conversation with Helga, who wasn't being allowed to leave her room.

"How?" Rowena asked. "Even if we took it slowly, at a pace she could manage, it would take an entire day. That's why they haven't let her go before, Salazar." Salazar continued to pace, not showing any signs that he had heard what Rowena had said. "Salazar!"

"I refuse to believe there's no way, Ro!" he said fiercely.

"Apparation?" Godric asked.

Salazar shook his head. "No. It takes weeks to learn, and besides. Stefen doesn't think she'll ever be strong enough."

"And I suppose a broomstick's out of the question," Godric said.

"Of course it is!" Rowena exclaimed.

"I wasn't suggesting it!" Godric said in defense. "I was just thinking out loud."

"I don't suppose one of us could carry her up?" Salazar asked Godric. The three of them looked up the slope.

"Up that?" Rowena asked. "It's not really a hill, remember. It's more like a small mountain. I think _we'd_ be hard pressed to climb up some of it. Besides, I don't think Helga would like the idea of being carried all the way up, even by one of you. She'd be humiliated." Salazar nodded and sat heavily next to the other two. They all fell into a gloomy silence.

"If only there was something like Apparation that didn't require an exertion on the person," Godric said a while later.

"Like . . . what?" Salazar asked, trying to follow Godric's train of thought.

"Like . . . you know the basics of Apparation. We move ourselves from one spot to another. But Stefen worries about that because it's physically strenuous. If only there were a way, then, to do a sort of Apparation with an object, we could just go along for the ride."

"Have an _object _learn to Apparate?" Rowena asked, sarcastic. Godric glared at her.

"No. A spell to move an object from point A to point B that would take anything touching it with it."

"It doesn't exist," Rowena said certainly.

"I _know_ it doesn't!" Godric said, exasperated. "I'm _saying_, that's what we need."

"So, if that's what we need, then let's get one!" Salazar said emphatically.

"What do you mean, Salazar?" Rowena asked him. Salazar stood and started pacing again.

"I mean, let's get one. Let's create the spell. Let's find a way to make this . . . this . . . Transporting Key or whatever!" Godric and Rowena exchanged skeptical glances. "Why not?" he asked, starting to get excited. "I bet it wouldn't be hard, not for us. Especially not for you, Ro," he said. She had been about to protest, but then Salazar had challenged her intelligence. She sat, brow furrowed in thought, calculating. The two boys waited.

"You know . . ." she said slowly a moment later. "I think . . . I think maybe we could." She looked up at the boys. "I really do think we could. It'd be hard, I mean, really difficult, but . . . I think we could pull it off." She stood abruptly and hurried toward the homestead.

"Ro?" Godric asked. She turned back.

"Well, we're going to have to do some research," she said, as though this was obvious. "We need to talk to Stefen about it, and we should have some idea how we're going to go about it before then. Come on!" They hurried after her.

* * *

A week later, Stefen had tentatively approved their plan, provided that it had been sufficiently tested before they tried it on Helga. He watched in mild amazement as the three left his office. They honestly had no idea what they would be accomplishing if this experiment worked. They would have created a very advanced and potentially life-changing bit of magic. Far more experienced wizards had never done half as much, and here these three were, only fifteen. Something told Stefen that these four were destined for greatness, destined to change the world. Then he laughed to himself.

"Of course they will," he murmured. "And they probably won't even notice when they do."

* * *

Unfortunately, I don't know when more of this will be posted, but I thank all of those people who have read. Please stick with it! Now, review and give the young founders some love! 


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